The Masked Singer alum Wayne Brady comes out as pansexual
Wayne Brady has a appeared on a slew of competition shows, aside from currently hosting Let’s Make A Deal for CBS. He won The Masked Singer 2 as The Fox, and he came in third on Dancing with the Stars Season 31. He’s also hosted and guest judged a slew of reality shows, to many to mention.
But now that genial and familiar presence on television is getting honest with himself and his fans. “I am pansexual,” he shared with People magazine. It means that he is attracted to persons regardless of sex or gender. “Bisexual — with an open mind!” is how he explains it.
Wayne, daughter Maile, and wife Mandie Taketa alongside her partner Jason Fordham are filming a reality series about their blended family, set to premiere on Hulu next year. Mandie and Jason welcomed a new baby in 2021, and Wayne is considered a co-parent.
Wayne told his ex-wife first
Mandie was the first person he came out to. “I just said, ‘Great’,” she shared with People. “As I knew coming out would help him be happier.” His daughter was equally supportive and accepting.
“I really have not gotten a chance to act on anything,” Wayne explains why he considers himself pan instead of bisexual. “So, I came to pansexual because — and I know that I’m completely messing up the dictionary meaning — but to me, pan means being able to be attracted to anyone who identifies as gay, straight, bi, transsexual or non-binary,” Wayne told people. “I think, at least for me for right now, that is the proper place.”
Robin William’s death prompted a mental health journey
After Robin William’s death in 2014 by suicide, Wayne began his mental health journey. For the first time, he peeled back the emotional layers. “I had to start learning about myself, and I had to start owning up to things that maybe I’d either repressed, suppressed, or just didn’t wanna deal with,” Wayne said. While family and work made him happy, it wasn’t enough. “I have to love myself. And that’s when I realized that I had a problem because if I can spend everything on stage and on camera but then I come home and there is a love deficit, what is going on? That was my rock bottom.”
“I’ve also been attracted to certain men in my life, but I’ve always pushed that aside because of how I was raised,” Wayne explained, “And because I live in today’s world, and it’s scary as s—.” He continued, “What’s the fastest way to hurt another man? I’m gonna call you gay. I’m gonna emasculate you. I’m gonna use the F-word.”
He didn’t understand his attraction to men. “I don’t think I’m gay,” he thought at the time, “but what if I feel something for another [man]… That’s still gay. I was already bullied about a bunch of other s—. I didn’t wanna add a top hat on top of that suit.”
“I wasn’t being forthcoming with myself”
Wayne considered himself an LGBTQ ally, but it felt phony. “I’ve always had a wonderful community of friends who are in the LGBTQ+ community, people that I’ve grown up with in shows, gays and lesbians, and, later in life, my trans relatives and my niece,” Wayne said. “I’ve always had that community, but I’ve always felt like a sham because I wasn’t being forthcoming with myself.”
“I’ve told myself in the past, also, nobody needs to know my personal business,” Wayne said. “The world can absolutely go without knowing that Wayne identifies as pan. But that gave me license to still live in the shadows and to be secretive. What does that feel like to actually not be shameful, to not feel like, ‘Oh, I can’t be part of this conversation because I’m lying?’ I had to break that behavior.”
“I’m still coming together,” Wayne says. “But If I’m healthy, then I can go onstage at Let’s Make A Deal and be the best Wayne Brady that everybody wants and expects. I can be the best dad that Maile needs. I can be the best friend to Mandie, the best son to my mother, and one day, the best partner to someone, because I’m doing this for me.”
Wayne stresses that he’s not dating. “I am single, but it’s not about being with someone right now. I’ve got some work to do still. Then, Wayne as a single, open-minded pansexual can make a decision and be free and open to other people.”
